God Damned Young People and Their Cell Phones Make Me Furious!

The problem with young people today is that they all have cell phones.

Back when I was a boy, we didn’t carry phones with us. In my day phones weighed 10 pounds, had rotary dials and were firmly attached to your father’s desk. They were phones of substance, damn it.

We young people weren’t allowed to use the phone. Ever. It was there for emergencies or special occasions like the death of a relative. If I had ever told my dad I wanted to cart a phone around with me he would have strapped a phone booth to my back, kicked my ass out the back door and told me to call him when I got to Hell.

In my day, if you wanted to talk to a friend you walked across the street and spoke to him in person. Archaic? Perhaps. But it was free and it didn’t give you brain cancer.

But these young people today. You’d swear they had cell phones grafted into their palms at birth. They walk down the street blathering away on their blueberries and blacktooths like a bunch of chattering howler monkeys out on a day pass from the zoo.

And what they Hell are they talking about all the time anyway? Last time I checked, young people had nothing of consequence to say, no opinion worthy of vocalizing and no ideas that weren’t half-baked, half-witted or completely half-assed.

If I wanted to listen to inane teen banter I’d go talk to the staff at Old Navy. I sure as Hell don’t need to listen to the idiotic musing of every young person riding the Downtown 34 Express bus. You know what? I don’t care what dumbass boy you “like,” what flavour lip gloss you’re wearing, or want to be subjected to your moronic debate on the relative merits of the new Hannah Montana moving picture.

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Mi 7 year old daugther is asking for a cell phone for herself. I’ll not give any cell phone. I think it is more important that she employs her time learning how to cook and clean the house. A damned cell phone will not help her to survive or succeed in her life.

A 7 year old wanting a cell phone? Unless she does a fair bit of business travel I’d have a hard time understanding the need. Seems to me that when I was seven my friends and I were still at the tin can and a piece of string stage.

I am guilty as charged, indeed owning a cell phone. I do however make a point of answering my texts in no less than two or three days, and thus some of the feeling of a nice, hand-written letter is preserved. With the cost of stamps being what they are these days, I find it a cheaper compromise.

Oh, and don’t get me started on the people who use these “hands-free” dohickeys. In my day, people who walked aimlessly in the streets, yapping into thin air were a thing to avoid, and most likely ready for an extended vacation in a padded cell in serene country scenery. When you can’t tell the difference between teenager and escaped psychiatric patient, what is this world coming to?

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve prepared myself for some kind of lunatic attack only to discover that it was actually a young person yapping away into one of those damned ear phones. They look like 1912 vintage hearing aids to me.

Inconsiderate if you ask me. Impersonating a crazy person is cruel, easy and cheap.

Don – It irritates me even more than a cell phone call when I receive “thank you/happy birthday/etc by email. No time to be polite & need to take care of such “irritants” instantly? It’s rude & low class. What happened to handwritten notes/letters? My father sent me an email when my mother died…if he’d had a cell phone he’d have texted me. I don’t own a cell phone – surprise, surprise. Had ’em – hated ’em. Personally, I choose my privacy over being available to the world 24/7. Don’t answer my landline much either. We passed notes in school – worked fine w/out texting. Sorry – I don’t need to go thru my life taking pictures of it. Detest answer machines too – if someone wasn’t available you called back later. Moreover I think a car should have keys & not beep at me. A crusty old lady…

The problem with Donald Mills today is that he writes all his posts the same way.

Back in the beginning of the blog his post format sounded fresh and funny but it became annoying very fast – like a “Will it blend” video intro. These wasted minutes of reading the same sentence over and over again will never come back.

In Mr. Mills defence, with teenagers these days either having their attention spans crippled by MTV or hearing destroyed by rap tunes on their iPods, things have to be repeatedly hammered into their skulls in a loud, clear voice. I suspect these things become habitual, and who can blame him?

I appreciate the honest criticism lad and like the way you phrased it. It’s familiar to me and I find that comforting. I suppose I take a little too much comfort in the familiar but it’s who I am and I don’t expect I’ll change.

Don, you know another problem with young people today is they can act very arrogant, sassy and disrespectful to their elders. Another thing they don’t realize is that they can actually leave people alone if they don’t like them.

you know Sesarr, whatever the heck kind of name that is (and I see you left no link back to yourself) you know some things need repeating, did you hear me, some things need repeating.
I honestly do not find Don repeating himself! You gotta admit, you gotta admit (oh darn there I go repeating myself) this stuff is funny and proves a point.
now go and text your friends about it (oooops, sorry)

I was on a ski vacation a few years back. It was a beautifal day, I was eating lunch at the restaurant on top of the ski hill.

Buncha teenagers come in, and sit down at the table next to me. I figured they’d order food, and start getting boisteroius and exchanging stories about the great morning of snow-boarding they just had…

Nope. The first thing they did was get out their cell phones and start text-messaging. The whole table was quiet, all these kids frantically pushing tiny buttons with their thumbs…

For Chrissakes, can’t you spend a few hours OFF the GRID, and just enjoy fresh air and the outdoors?

Nope. I guess it was more important to tell OTHER people what they were doing, rather than talk to their friends who were sitting RIGHT THERE.

I do have to disagree that it’s just the kids, though. My poor wife manages a group home, and has a cell phone for work. Don’t you know, that damned thing never stops ringing. Her staff call her all the time, whining that they can’t come in because their kids are sick, or their car broke down, or it’s this or it’s that, or it’s another damned thing.

I can’t tell you how many times someone my age (and even older) have damned near run me off the road because they were talking on their cell phone and not paying attention to what they were doing.

Sounds like your wife manages a challenging bunch of employees. In fact, they sound remarkably like young people! (Just a guess.)

Back when I was working I didn’t call the boss with some lame excuse if my car broke down or toast burnt or I had a runny nose. I damned well hauled my ass into work by hook or by crook, shut my mouth and was grateful to be employed.

My 10 year old niece and nephews both have their own cell phones. They text a lot but they don’t run around attached to them. They also have limits on who their allowed to call– my niece mostly calls her grandmother.

This being said, I have to buy my own phone when I was 17 years old. I had a job and an income so my parents made me pay for it myself. I admit that I’m one of those people who does not leave the house without my phone. I feel very disconnected without it and when I don’t have my phone I’m constantly afraid I’m going to be in an accident and be unable to call 911. And Don, don’t tell me that if I were to wreck that someone would politely pull over and help me. I was in an accident in February and my car had just finished spinning around on the expressway– and cars just kept passing me. No one attempted to help me.

The more I think about it though, the more I think cellphones are to blame for this. Everyone probably assumed I had a phone and could take care of myself. I don’t think that’s an excuse to ignore someone in need. Oh, I don’t know Don– I love my phone but I think they’re also part of the reason no one talks face to face anymore.

I’ll come right out and say the cell phone is the tool of the devil. I hate them and the “texting” more than anything. It seems as if people cannot be alone for one second anymore. They have to be connected to the grid 24/7. I could go on and on why I truly hate cell phones but it’s beyond the scope of this blog.

LOL, once again, very funny. My dog ate my cell phone charger last week and consequently, not being able to charge my phone, I have been without a cell phone for the same amount of time. I must say that this is great. The liberation one gets from owning a cell phone is nothing like the liberation of not hearing a ring every 5 minutes and at all hours of the night. I’m sure I have a thousand messages by now, but, I don’t really care.

I can agree with most of this one, Don. I barely ever talk on my cell phone. I use it for other things, like text-messaging, instant messaging, GPS, Googling things, emergencies, etc. Although I’m guessing you disagree with SMS/IM, I find it better than speaking orally when out. If I’m home and I need to call someone, I’ll use Skype. I never have conversations on the phone while traveling.

However, I have to slightly disagree with when you say “In my day, if you wanted to talk to a friend you walked across the street and spoke to him in person.” For some people, this may be true, but society has changed a lot since you were young and it’s not so easy to do this anymore. I personally have no friends that live close to me, as I attend a county school in an urban area where kids come from many different towns and cities. In fact, I only know one other person who lives in MY ENTIRE TOWN that goes to my school…and I don’t even like him (you wouldn’t either).

All in all, though, I agree with you on this one. We might just be on a roll again.

Glad we are in agreement but I have to confess that I didn’t understand a great deal of your first paragraph. I know what “Googling” is (Hattie, my PSW, has been showing me some computer tricks) but SMS/IM, instant messaging etc., are all pretty foreign concepts to me.

I suppose that things have changed with friends too but I can’t say I understand that either. When I was a kid all of your friends lived on your block and you all went to the same school. It was simple and seemed to make a lot of sense. But…you’re a good lad so I’ll take you at your word.

By the way, Gerard, Hattie played some of that “Aesop Rock” for me and now it’s my turn to disagree with you. Sorry, son, but I could only manage about 30 seconds of it before I started to feel dizzy and needed to shut it off and lie down for a while. Just not my cup of tea at all I’m afraid.

You might be a crazy old man, but I 100% agree with you. All these dam contranptions and gadgets…if you drive and talk on the phone YOUR AN IDIOT…If you do anything that requires not to talking on the phone at the time YOUR AN IDIOT regardless of age….its the parents don why in the name of all that is holy and right would a parent buy or EVEN THINK ABOUT buying a phone for young child….here timmy here is phone dont worry about being rude to people and make bad decisions that parent ought to be PUNCHED IN THE SIDE OF THE HEAD……great post don thanks for putting it in the light…..Zman sends

You’re not wrong; damn young people and their cell phones drive me to distraction too.

I’m starting to think I must be older than you, Mr Mills, because back in my day, the telephone was a huge wooden contraption mounted vertically on the wall with real bells, that you had to stand up to use.

One didn’t dial a number; one cranked a generator on the side, lifted the ear piece and waited for the operator (always a woman) to ask you what number you wanted. You then told her the number eg 3298 and she would say “Hold the line, please, and I will put you through”. Not many people had the telephone so there weren’t that many numbers to ask for.

It was certainly never used for anything frivolous, like “chatting”. If we wanted to chat to someone (we called it chin wagging) you went and leant over the fence for a good ole natter with the neighbour.

Incidently, chatting was frowned upon. If we talked too much, we were labelled “chatter boxes”.

We never had one of the older model phones you describe but I remember seeing them a fair bit. It may have been due to the fact that we didn’t have a phone in our house until I was 7 or 8. Before that, my old mom would just open the window, stick her head out and call down the street.

Always so nice to hear from you Lily. Your comments take me back to a simpler time.

This whole discussion suddenly reminded me of an incident a while ago.

I was enjoying a quiet smoke in the afternoon outside a friends’ house. A bus pulls up at the nearby bus stop, and sure enough, some 16(-ish) year old girl waltzes off it, and I can hear her yacking into her phone with a (supposedly) girlfriend about the guy she made out with last Saturday at 50 damn paces. She walks by the house, I am at this point cringing with embarrassment, a god damn block away I can still hear her. As she went into details about his naughty bits, I had to go inside and find some socks to sort by elasticity, just in order to calm my nerves enough to go for a lie-down.

That is most certainly a cringe – worthy tale and just another example of loud, unabashed, narcissistic, egocentric young people mouthing off. Thank goodness Mr Mills didn’t witness that little episode; I’m sure it would’ve knocked him out of his rocker.

I’m sorry, but I did laugh out loud at you sorting your socks by elasticity. Is that like the Zen of Sock Maintenance?
I will take a leaf out of your book and go and sort my bloomers by elasticity right now.

I was in fact a bit doubtful as to whether I should post that at all, not being sure of the heart conditions of the readers. But I reckon that the people here are hardened enough by their own harrowing experiences with teenagers.

I must say I’ve never got this whole “Zen”-thing, sounds like some “new-age” hippy babble to me, although I could be mistaken, if so, feel free to correct me. But indeed, sorting socks by elasticity is an excellent relaxation technique. Almost beats a gin and tonic and a go at the old crossword puzzle.

I am still in good health, no thanks to little Miss I’ll-yell-intimate-details-about-my-love-life-around-the-neighborhood. The sock-sorting, a lie-down and washing my bile down with a nice pint of ale saw me through once again. Thank you for your concern, Mr. Mills.

Glad to hear I could bring a chuckle, it’s a much needed comfort in this teen-plagued world. Young people these days don’t appreciate a good chuckle. It has to be an all-out gut-laugh, or they won’t bother, and just slouch around and complain.

Hard to agree with you on this one, Don.
Unless you are against teenagers who irresponsibly use cell phones, then I agree 100%. But the technology itself has saved lives, and in general makes our every day much easier.
My point is you can’t blame the technology for the way some people use it.
But it must be said, teenagers these days seem so absorbed in their freaking cell phones than they can’t even sit at the dinner table without texting their friends every 20 seconds.
So in the end.. I guess I DO agree with you xD
Cheers, Don.
Glad to see you’re still coming up with good ones.

Good God, if all those young people are yapping away on 911 it’s no wonder I can’t get the police to come out and talk to my neighbour about her idiot son and her defecating cat. They’re too busy listening to teenagers talk about the boy from Highschool Musical.

And when I wanted to bowl I didn’t stare at a screen and shake my hand. I went down to the bowling hall, put on a used pair of shoes, bought some cheap draft and bowled a game.

What concerns me apart from the dreary, inane conversations young people have on their cell phones is this business of “texting” and the impact it has on a person’s thumbs.

The thumb is not a very dexterous digit; it was designed for grasping, not repetitive movement.

I strongly suspect that in another decade or so, we will start to see the serious impact of chronic texting, combined with chronic video gaming on young peoples’ thumbs and wrists, which will make them even more useless than they are now.

Combine this with brain cancers and tumours from overuse of cell phones and the psychological effects of all online perversions, we will not only have a generation of physically useless young people, but demented ones as well.

I could not understand it as a youth, but now fully appreciate why a person would become a hermit.

The America that you and I grew up in has long gone, and the changes that have come forth since the 1970’s are not what was envisioned by the Founding Fathers. When my time comes, I will not be sad to leave.

what’s worse than cellphones are cellphones with cameras! what the hell is everyone taking pictures of? i walk around, and i see stuff. i don’t need to take pictures of it. if i want to see it again, i can go back outside.

Well, Don, I’ve been following you’re blog for quite a few weeks now, and I must say, this one takes the cake. I’ll confess to owning a cell phone myself, but I use it only in moderation. In fact, the only reason I got one was because I was leaving for college!

What really gets on my nerves are the people that are on their phone while trying to conduct other business. I’ve had many people come through my line at the store I work at with a phone glued to their ear.

My question is this: at what point did it become more rude to interrupt someone’s cell phone conversation than it is to be talking on the phone when dealing with others?

Love your blog, sir. At this very moment my 16 yr old son is asleep probably with his cell phone in hand, ear buds in ear with some rap music on the queue and will remain that way until close to sundown.

Your blog inspires me to dig out the old rotary phone and challenge him to figure out how to use it while listening to some classics on the turntable.

Hey Don!
First up, I’m going to gush. I love your writing, its excellent. I get a laugh out of every post. Right on man!

As for that matter of cell phones (mobile phones here in Australia) I love mine. Despite the fact ill end up with a blackberry shaped tumor on my hands and face one day, I go nowhere without it. The reasoning; booty calls. Need to make and receive them. Also to call my parents on Sundays.

Dear Don,
You are not going to like this my geriatric friend. I have a cell phone and I won’t give it up. My husband has a fancy one that plays music and videos. Both of them take pictures. The 18 year old and 14 year old each have one. The 9 year old wants one and the 7 year old informs me that several kids in her class already have their cell phones.

I bought the phones so the kids could call me in an emergency, to tell me where they are, who they’re with, why they’re going to be late, when they get home, etc.

It’s a working mother’s best friend for children who are too old for babysitters.

Now let me tell you the part you will like. The problems are as follows:
They don’t talk on the phones. Ever. They text everyone, all the time. I can’t even remember what their voices sound like because my house is eerily quiet except for the funny tone noise the phones make when the kids get a text. That noise never stops.

Also, I was in the living room with them one afternoon a few months back and we were watching a movie. The boys were both on the couch texting when one of them turned to the other one and said, “Yeah I saw that too.”

What the hell? Scared me to death for a minute that they had developed their psychic abilities. Then it hit me.
“You two are texting EACH OTHER?”

They then proceeded to call each other so I could hear both sides of the conversation.

Oh, Donald Mills. While you can be quite the humourous one, I find some things you post can be ignorant, leading me to believe you are misinformed. Many ‘geezers’ were misinformed on a number of things (such as how tobacco is GOOD for you), and that is the problem with your generation. There is a problem with every generation, but not every member of each has fallen prey to their own.

“And what they Hell are they talking about all the time anyway? Last time I checked, young people had nothing of consequence to say, no opinion worthy of vocalizing and no ideas that weren’t half-baked, half-witted or completely half-assed.” LYK OMG THAT’S SO ROOD. I have many opinions worthy of vocalizing, thank you. It would be my pleasure to share them some time. But I say, not every person with half-assed ideas is between the ages of thirteen and seventeen. I mean, look at Bush, who, thank goodness, is no longer producing ‘weapons of mass production’. Intelligence cannot be taught or learned, therefore, time and age are not a factor.

Once I again I agree with you for the most part, I really only talk on the phone to a few of my friends, one who lives about eight hours away, and the other who is often ill or out of town, I never do it where it would disturb people, and I don’t text. Cellphones can be rather usfull, but I confess if I want to be left alone I put it on Silent Alert.

Better yabbering than texting and eroding the foundation of proper English.

Like Rose I don’t use my cellphone much. The only reason I even own one is because my parents wanted me to have a way to contact them or emergency services if something happened to me while out on my own once I got my driver’s license. And aside from that, I use it mostly to call my friend who live out of state, because it’s nice ot hear the voice of someone you care about once in a while instead of reading their words off a computer screen.

While Mills might be from the old generation, you can still learn alot from him. Twenty years from now, we will be from the old generation and the youngsters will have their go at our intelligence and worth.

I have been thinking of starting to blog.In fact I have read some random blogs online just to get an idea some techniques and style of other people.I am a little bit worried though since I don’t have that much confidence in myself in writing due to the fact that English is my second language, but I am determined and I hope I overcome this fear.I want to be like you someday. I like your style. I’d live to write funny stuff too. If I could write as beautiful like you someday, I’d be very very happy. Thank you for making me laugh and giggle when I’m bored working night shift in the hospital.

Cell phones. Lets not be judgmental towards the need of cell phones in this Tech-savvy world. how well can you imagine hostel life, without getting to talk to your people at least once a day or whenever you feel too low. All is not just black or white. The gray area has to appreciated somewhere before passing any tilting your head in a direction. Unless the phone is not just used for playing games or flirting around with chicks, I shall not nod in negation of the use of cell phones in today’s world.
Nonetheless, The views are bound to alter, as time passes.
I liked it, albeit. 🙂

What is wrong with you people? If a teenager wants to stay in touch with their friends how does that affect you? You act like a teenager texting is somehow doing you a disservice. If they want to turn their brains to mush, that’s their choice. It shouldn’t bother you.

It effects me when I am trying to talk to them, trying to get service at a store, when they step out in front of my car while looking at their damn screen, or when they are using them while bicycling down a busy sidewalk. (I’ve already seen 3 bicycling texters this week.) It’s not only impolite and inconsiderate, it can be downright dangerous. And for what? To make sure their tweet is the first response to Bieber’s latest post?

How about when I’m just trying get a little peace & quiet and some idiot just “has” to talk to his friend about the latest Lady Gaga album for 20 minutes. Remember when a person could be alone with their thoughts? Not anymore. Apparently, you are now required by law to share every half-baked thought that enters your pea sized brain.

What ever happened to just adapating to society like we have for generations instead of criticizing….We the “younger generation” can sit around and blame the “baby boomers” in American history to leave us with insurmountable debt. Our annual national debt is approaching 20% of annual GDP. The baby boomers are the ones that voted for this craziness and the ones that have changed society to allow for this craziness! $14 trillion in debt, thanks a lot! Just because you all may be older and they drugs from the 60’s are just wearing off it doesnt mean that today’s world is any worse just because of cell phones.

Whats not being noticed when teenagers are texting is that they’re texting multiple people at one time, HENCE, having a greater communication with people close to them compared to a face to face conversation. By conversing with a greater number of people at once, one is left to assume that multi-tasking is being achieved here while also keeping in close contacts with family members or friends. Which leads me to another point. Just because you may see someone picking up their phone to text or call someone, whose to say they are not talking to a relative whom they haven’t seen in years or something of that nature. The education system today is preparing us for jobs that are not even out yet and preparing us to use technology that is not out yet either. If anything todays society is more enhanced than it has ever seen in the past…

For example, back when there were no cell phones meetings were arranged by saying “Meet me at X location, at X times”….if someone did not meet at that particular time or were an hour late than that meeting would have to be re-arranged for a later time….Todays world using cell phones you can literally text/call your boss/friends and tell them what your hold up might be and to wait for you……

And your so called reasoning for cell phones being a downfall : “In my day, if you wanted to talk to a friend you walked across the street and spoke to him in person. Archaic? Perhaps. But it was free and it didn’t give you brain cancer.”

What would you have done if your girlfriend lived in the next state? You would have definately loved to have the medium of a cell phone to keep in touch with her everyday and wake up jus to tell her you missed her for example….

Todays world using cell phone you no longer have to worry about being lost when driving somewhere and pulling over and wasting gas and time to find a gas station for directions , but instead turn on your phones navigations system and within minutes you are being put back on your route.

There are just so many benefits to using cell phones these days that it is literally impossible to not use one at any point in your life plain and simple.

Sure there are benefits, but there are also disadvantages, as pointed out in the text. Kids using cell phones and not communicating face to face forget about body language and how their intonation influences what they are saying. I teach Grade 6 and it drives me crazy when I try to instruct my students on what their tones or body language are ‘saying’.

Well Mr. Mills,
To tell you the truth I just do not trust cell phones, I tend to over think and get paranoid. Acording to My hypothesis the government listens to your every conversation and reads all of your text messages. So they can figure out what the teenagers are like today. Thus making them more knowledgeable about our likes and dislikes so they can brainwash us through subliminal messages on MTV. Then again, I may be over thinking this. Maybe I should stop theorizing everything.

Twenty years ago, you might get put in a mental institution for that comment.Today, it’s a very wise approach. Although the MTV brainwashing connection hasn’t yet been forged (give it a decade or so) everything else in your theory is solid. That said, don’t go off your meds without first consulting an MD.

Not only does the US government listen in on 1.7 billion communications a day, Rupert Murdoch hacks into the cell phones of whoever he feels like. Throw in the potential for brain cancer, the amount of (toxic) waste these designed-be-replaced-every-couple-years products generate, the expense associated with buying & using them and it’s probably best to avoid them altogether.

As Mr Mills would say, “Rotary phones are as far as I’ll go.” Good advice, as usual, sir.

Thanks for the reply Sedate Me, and I shall be carefull on what I say. Although they do see everything we write I still believe people need to know the truth well if my hypothesis is correct or even close.

Secondly and finally, you are right; It is best to avoid them altogether.

I completely agree with you, going on this subject “what is wrong with young people today is that they always want the new gizmos”, iwhatevers and other junk to stick in their pockets, and who is paying for them, not them but us.

Hello I am in grade 6 I have a cell phone I dont really ever use it and I really disagree with you. ok I am tall so what? I am not high on drugs.I dont have terribal posture. you know how I came across this site, Iwas doing a school project on cell phones and found this crap. I hate old people like you. you make me very sick. and I thnk you need to get a life. oh and if you hate tecnolage why do you jave computer and make this web site?
I am sure every one would love to hear that.

I’m a Letter Carrier and I always have to watch where I walk while I’m figuring the Mail, etc. What I do get is people of all ages that are constantly texting on their phone not looking where they are walking, and people who are always talking on their phone while walking about whatever. If these people would just put their cells phone away while their walking, driving, etc…they will live to see another day. Some people happen to walk with their cell phones in their hands when the phone is off as if glued to their hands and they look stupid. Now being a Letter Carrier for 18 1/2 I see these cell phones become a natural disaster, specially when they are texting not looking where they are going and they walk right into my path not realizing that I’m walking, figuring the mail and about to deliver it and they walk right into me…see what I mean. I have a cell phone if or when I use it I stop, the answer it or text, when I’m done then I put it away. Lots of people who carry their cell phones like the Apple iPhones are targets for muggers, this everyday; no one told this people to carry their phones in their hands as if it is a decoration. Last no child under 18 should have a cell phone, they should pay more attention in learning education and graduating and getting a decent job, so their parents can stop spoiling them.

I don’t own a mobile phone, never have, never will. I like the idea of simply running into friends when I’m out and about. Since we have shared interests, this is not uncommon. There used to be a great old saying, “mind your own business”. It’s funny how the same people who once say this are the same ones who now make it their business to let everybody else know about their business. They might have the right to talk, but my right not to listen overrides that. If these idiots want to talk, let them do it in private. I don’t invite myself and my friends into your home to have a conversation, so don’t invite yourself into my earshot to have loud, obnoxious conversations that nobody else can participate in. I’m not old, either. I’m still in my thirties, grew up in the 1980s and I look a fair bit younger than that. These stupid kids these days think that their generation invented mobile phones. No, they’ve been around for many years, but in the 1980s, the only folks who have them were emergency service workers and stockbrokers, and they were the size of a brick. Also, people with mobile phones are quite often the most unreliable people when it comes to keeping in touch! I don’t have a mobile phone, but I’d wager that I have more fun than a lot of people who do!

I agree with you…Don…it is just so Damn RUDE RUDE.young people on there phone texting..e-mail face-book what ever. IT is RUDE RUDE RUDE..especailly when youwith other friends then have t ben the phone whole time..RUDE RUDE RUDE>>and they dont think it RUDE>.I mean yes being onphone to text or e-mail once in ahile okay but not the whole time you outwith yoru othre firends then think it not RUDE>>I DONT get..it..not ging to scailaize with people who havet beon phone 24/7///and be RUDE!!!!!!!

I think phones when used properly can be good but also its unsettling being places full of people where it is silent. Peoples faces lit up by a screen and they are giggling to themselves, no interaction with anyone around them. I think some young people don’t know how to interact without a phone. I myself can get distracted by a game than what is in front of me.

First of all I’ve read a few of your blog posts and I got to admit, they’ve been pretty fun to read. I consider myself young at the age of 22, and half of these don’t even fit with the way I was raised. You didn’t grow up in our generation, therefore I don’t think you should be bashing on “young people” as much as you have been.

Here’s one of my first insights on every teen owning a cell phone. First, not all young teens own a cell phone. I got a cell phone when I turned 16 because once I started driving it was important for my parents to be able to get a hold of me when needed and for use in case of an emergency or my car were to break down.

Second, I live out in the country, if I walked across the road to “talk to a friend” I’d have to walk through 100+ acres of corn, bean, and wheat fields before I’d get to the next farmstead and chances were they didn’t even have children my age. Since you grew up in a neighborhood it was easy for you to walk across the street or to a friend’s down the road because it was convenient for you. It’s isn’t that convenient for some.

I’ll agree with you that there are some teens that do have their phones attached to their hands, but not every teenager does that. That’s why I’m commenting because you seem to be judging us teens as a whole and not giving the ones who aren’t like that, credit for being more mature. However, again this is the era we grew up in. I’m sure if we all still had landlines in our homes we would use them. Our society is becoming more and more of electronic users and that’s nothing that you can change. So I just have to say it’s probably a good idea to just worry about people your age and in the generation you grew up in, instead of judging my generation when you haven’t even grew up in it yourself.

we arent judging EVERY TEEN at least i’m not. and yes some have to walk a mile less or more to friends house, and ppl reply on technology a lot, drive me baty. like yesterday i was with my mom at a featival as we got out and walked to farther, my mom said ‘i forgot my phone’ i replied ‘you don’t need it, we rely to much on technology’ my mom said ‘your right who will call me as this?’

I’m 33, I have a cell phone for an emergency or like that, these young people are all about hauling there laptops or cell phones (New Techology i say)…if you say anything they get mad at you, its like deathrow to them, ‘oh my gosh i don’t have my cell phone I’m going to die’ technology is ruining this world, our lives.

Think how hard it is when you`re a teen and you don`t like cellphones. I have to repeat myself at least 20 times a day because these jackasses are on their cellphones, And the worst part is that they`re all dumb-asses because the only thing they know is their little social media and gossiping, they are so busy with their phones none of these idiots have anything to contribute to a conversation or even the world. They have no special skill that sets them apart from each other. They know nothing about the world around them, the only thing they know is how to take pictures so that they look like they have a life., they have no opinions to share and all they talk about is themselves. Its so annoying, they are only into the conversation when its their turn to speak but when its my turn they start to type away. Ugh why do I even waste my time, everything is a struggle now a days, eating lunch with friends is awkward when your the only one talking.
I`m not antisocial but shit I cant even act like I`m okay with this crap anymore,
I fear for our generation and the next to come, my neighbors 6 year old child has an Iphone 5 and is always one her phone. What happened to being a kid, when these people grow up and look back its all going to be a big blur because the moments they should have been paying attention they were to busy sending a meaningless text to a friend. You wont remember your stupid ass conversations with your crush, what you will remember is the times you should have been sharing with your family and your peers. I am frustrated to no end and I feel so alone. And the worst part is they all judge you (recently had someone call me stupid for learning Italian on my own, apparently learning a language other than English if I live in America is stupid because I don`t need to do it, then they went on to call me a nerd)

Ann, you are very insightful and indeed very brave. You understand the negative consequences of “social media” addiction and are willing to do what is right even if it’s sometimes unpopular. This takes courage at any age, but is all the more difficult during one’s youth. It’s great that you are learning another language. It opens so many doors for you. Far better than aimless chatter and texting! As for the charge of being a nerd; if being a nerd means being inquisitive and bold about learning and trusting one’s instincts than you can be proud of the title. It beats being what those creativity challenged nitwits are: DORKS!
Keep the faith Ann!!!

I think the old people are just jealous that they didn’t have what we have, and they wish they had as luxurious a childhood as we do. It’s funny, though, because I was just searching “Why do old people hate cell phones?” and this is the first result that popped up. God damned old people and their envy.

Reblogged this on enthusiasticallyoptimistic and commented:
True, I found myself using phone 24/7 of my day. There have to be some manner in meeting someone and catching up in person. Bring back the old time! 🙂

I’m 19 here, and no cellphone! Do you hate it when you talk to people, they ignore you and look at their phones instead? It’s so annoying! That happened to me. My teacher did that to while I was talking to her, so did my other friends, my brothers and sisters too. I find it incredibly rude! It’s like they’re more interested in the phone than to someone who is right in front of them. What’s worse is when people are on their phones while driving! There are times where I wish they’d turn the damn thing off.

Dear Don, I enjoyed your article. Cell phones should be for emergencies, such as one’s car breaking down and that’s about it. I hate seeing groups people at a table in a diner or restaurant each texting or chatting on their cells. I want to shout at them “Hey assholes, here’s a novel idea: How about actually talking to one another? Otherwise, why in hell are you dining together you ignorant morons?”

At 18, I agree with this. Haha. I admit I have a problem being on my phone too much. But I never text and drive, and when I am out ALWAYS look where I’m going. The most idiotic thing I’ve ever seen. You don’t need a cell phone 24/7, you’ll live. You had me laughing out loud! Ha great post.

Seeing people on all these devices today, supposedly connected, seem more dissociated from reality than anything. That reminds me of a scene from Fahrenheit 451 where the fire man noticed that people were very introverted and unaware of the exterior environment. What I’m trying to say is, that the more people are connected the more disconnected everybody seems. Everybody is plugged in and oblivious to those around them. Everybody is plugged in and yet sees nothing.

I do not hate cellphones but how they are used what should be simple and used when needed is now used all the time and in ways so annoying it gives me a bloody headache!

I have one of these blasted things due to a so called family plan at first it was convenient even useful but now every time i get called by telemarketers or some one i don’t know my hate for these things grows and i cant even dispose of the damn thing.

Okay you sound like one of those adults who is still caught up in the “old days”. Mr. Mills its time for you to wake up and take a good look around technology is a big part of todays life. And not all teens are just using thier phones to talk about pointless things and even if they are its a free country so boo-hoo you are annoyed by it, no one cares grow up and if annoyes you so much dont ease drop in the conversations its as easy as that.

Victoria, every generation has folks who criticize the younger folks and their habits. I’m 61 and I know guys in my age group with no work ethic, substance abusers and other great attributes lol. I realize phones and computers are addictive (I’m using my computer now). What concerns me is people of any age who don’t pay attention to others who are addressing them and I hate seeing people texting while driving. Of course one can’t dictate what others should with their phones when eating out, but it is unfortunate that groups of youngsters have separate conversations or text dialogues instead of enjoying conversing with each other.

Your one of those old farts who most likey starts off any sentence with back in my day. Well guess what we dont really care what was back in the past cause this is the presnt technology has evolved from being a 10 pound phone with dials. Teens are going to have cell-phones and if you dont like no one cares your opinion makes no diffrence and it annoyes you so much stay out of other people’s conversations. You wouldnt know that she was talking about her lipgloss if you were not eavesdropping.

Victoria, this morning on the news there was a story of a young woman who dropped her phone on the subway tracks. She jumped down to the tracks to retrieve her phone and a train entered the station. The train operator hit the bakes and the train struck the woman. She survived (I don’t know the extent of her injuries) but she was conscious. As she was being transported on a stretcher she was looking at her phone! My God, if that kind of addiction isn’t destructive, what is?

I’m an older fella and I have a cell phone. It is a good thing to have with you when driving in case you are stranded or in an accident. How ironic that a major cause of car accidents is distracted driving, so the likelihood of needing your phone in the car for emergencies is increased by the idiots who talk or text while driving! It irks me that many, perhaps most young drivers use their phones while they drive. My phone is in my pocket, on silent so there is no way I can be distracted while on the road. I don’t think front seat passengers should have their phones out either, as the light is distracting, especially at night.